Monday, April 11, 2011

Hanami: Yoyogi Park

I was going to put all my hanami (flower viewing) photos in one place, but I went a little crazy with the camera, so I'm splitting it into two parts.

Saturday was the designated day our friends had organized it, but due to the rain the event was moved inside. We did our best to recreate a natural setting.

There are trees outside...

Between rain showers (it definitely rained in the morning, but eased up in the afternoon), Husband and I went to nearby Yoyogi Park to see what was going on. It looked pretty popular to me, but a friend later said if we were able to easily walk around, it wasn't as crowded as previous years.The crows also were out in force, probably hanging out to get trash scraps. Hey, free food for them!Evidently I have a visual fascination with the juxtaposition of the light pink blossoms against the bright green new leaves on the trees nearby.

This is where bicycles defy gravity.And this tree must have something wrong with it, but I've never seen anything like it.More sakura! The evergreen trees really made them pop.Cultural immersion.This is where you can either sit at tables or drink milkshakes underwater. Or something.This is where bicyclists play chicken.Back at the indoor hanami, someone brought shinkansen wine. I didn't ask if it was made from distilled bullet trains.Coming up next: Sunday's weather was sunny and warm and I went with a friend to Ueno Park, the Senso-ji Temple, and the Sumida River. Stay tuned!